Mina's time to shine
by Silverstarlet
Summary: Mina is a simple Zumba instructor with dreams of attending the best dance school in the world. Will she get in or face disappointment. Read and Find out!


**Dance**

This was it! Mina thought to herself.

Mina hesitated at the curtains, she watched as the last dancer did a back flip and then a dramatic bow and the crowd went wild with applause. Thinking of the crowd made Mina's stomach flip-flop and did its own little cartwheel which turned Mina's face green.

"Don't puke, don't puke," She chewed herself out, "this is all Serena's fault. Why did she talk me into this? I hate her!"

Even though the last statement wasn't true, Mina was still mad at Serena for forcing her to dance today. Mina plucked at her red-bow on-top of her head that was keeping her long golden hair out of her deep-sea eyes. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the center of the stage when the last contestant quickly ran off behind the curtains.

"Mina Thompson, thank you for joining us," The judge on the right said.

"No problem, Serena," Mina replied, as she stared daggers at Serena.

Serena smiled up at her cousin, knowing that she could do this and show everyone her talent.

"You do know that if you win this audition, you will be accepted into Juilliard with a full scholarship and ten thousand dollars. You know the rules of this competition. You have to style your own choreography and have background experience in dancing. Do you meet those requirements? The middle judge explained. He was tall with long black hair and starry eyes. For a moment Mina felt like she was in love, but slammed her heart back into her chest. This is not the time to be dreaming about boys.

"Yes," Mina answered.

"And what kind of background do you have?" The middle judge asked.

"Sir…"

"Please call me Seiya," Seiya said, as he motioned his hand for her to continue.

"Thank you, Seiya. I am a part-time Zumba instructor," Mina spat out.

The room erupted in laughter and even the judges smirked. Mina bit her bottom lip, knowing that Zumba wasn't a true dance form, it was a great workout, but no one ever saw it as real dancing, no one except her. She loved her class and her students and to her it made her feel like a better dancer. It was easier to express yourself in Zumba and just let go. Mina felt the heat in her face when the laughter didn't die down after a couple of seconds and for once she wasn't embarrassed, no, she was furious.

"You have no right to laugh at me!" Mina screamed and pointed her finger at the crowd, "Zumba is a dance style."

"How does that make you a qualified candidate?" the third judge asked.

His grey hair fell over his shoulders and his clear eyes were mocking her. Mina breathed deeply, knowing the last judge personally. It was her secret crush Malachite. They used to go to high school together when she was a junior and him a senior. She used to hide notes in his locker, she was too afraid to tell him that she liked him. She followed him everywhere like a stalker, but they never spoke until today. He was so beautiful in his grey suit, and for a moment Mina couldn't speak. He had stolen her breathe and she felt like a pimply teenager again. She shook her head a couple of times to get rid of the cobwebs of past love and her anger returned.

"It is a form of dance and I am good at what I do. The rules do not state that Zumba dancers couldn't be included. I know how to dance, and I am as good as anyone here," Mina stated confidently.

"You have the floor," Malachite spoke, his hand motioning for her to dance.

The crowd became quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop and Mina's thundering heartbeat. Mina licked her lips and pulled on her orange tank-top and waved to the music man to play her song: HARD TIME.

Mina heard the hard beat and timed it with her movements. Her body bowed and stretched as her arms went over her head, then she backed flipped and went straight into the splits waving her arms around in a dramatic statement. She followed the drum beat as she slunk across the floor and crawled to the edge of the stage, her head bobbing up and down. She arched her back and shimmied her shoulders, bouncing her assets all the way as the back of her head touched her toes. Her whole body was on fire and her mind was only filled with the soul-full words of the music. Her body knew what to do and with every high kick and flying splits, she mesmerized the audience. Her contemporary dance was unlike anything anyone has ever seen and when the song sang it's last note she did one last high kick before she slammed her body to the floor, the red-bow falling from her hair and her blonde locks encased her body like a cocoon.

First there was silence and for a moment Mina thought they hated her dance. As she pushed her hair aside she peered out into the crowd and saw many mouths gaped open, but before she could get up, the crowd erupted in cheers, asking for an encore. Whistling could be heard and Mina's heart burst with happiness. Lightheaded she stumbled onto her feet, bowing before she trotted off. Another dancer replaced her, but Mina didn't stay to watch. Instead she hurried into the bathroom to go throw up. She hated performing in front of a large crowd and if it wasn't for the music to distract her, she would have fallen on her face. After a couple of flushes, Mina was able to make her way to the sink, finally feeling better. She splashed some cool water on her heated face and quickly filled her mouth with water to wash out the vomit. She stared at her reflection and smiled.

"You may not get this scholarship, but you did good girl, you did good."

Mina winked and gave a peace sign to her reflection before leaving. She made her way to the crowd and sat down to finish watching the other dancers. Hours passed and finally the last dance was done. Mina was surprised by all the terrific dancer and knew deep down she didn't win. There were so many better dancers than her, that graced the stage. She watched as her cousin Serena walked onto the stage; her blonde pigtails swaying behind her. She wore a beautiful pink low-cut dress and smiled as the light sparkled off her sky-blue eyes.

"Thank you all for coming. You are the most talented dancers we've seen in a long time, but we only have entries for three people and only one of you can claim the scholarship," Serena announced to the crowd.

"The two dancers whom made it into Juilliard, coming in second and third are: Michele and Mamoru," Serena shouted.

The crowd went wild as two dancers to Mina's left stood up and waved in thanks.

"Come see us before you leave," Serena advised, "And now for what you've all been waiting for. The scholarship and entrance into Juilliard is…"

Mina crossed her fingers and Serena stalled the crowd, everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to hear who won the scholarship and it felt like Serena was taking forever to announce the winner.

"Who won!" Someone from the crowd screamed.

"Okay. The…winner of the scholarship is…" Long pause for effect… "Mina Thompson!" Serena screamed.

For a minute Mina didn't recognize her own name and tears seeped out of the sides of her eyes, thinking she didn't win, but when her name was called again, it finally dawned on her that she had won. She jumped up out of her seat so quickly that her feet tangled on the chair in front of her and she fell over the chair and onto a couple of dancers. Laughter erupted again as the dancers helped Mina onto her feet and she rushed up onto the stage and hugged Serena.

"Thanks for believing in me," Mina gushed as she kissed Serena on the cheek.

"I knew you could do it and this proves it," Serena stated.

After the show, Mina met with Serena and the other judges to sign the contract and to fill out the form for the scholarship.

"You danced like a pro Mina," Malachite said as she signed the last document.

"Thank you."

"I don't know if you remember me, but we used to go to high school together," Malachite stammered.

"I remember," Mina squeaked as her heart thumped loudly in her ears.

"Yes, good times. It would have been nice to attend Juilliard together. Why did it take you so long to apply?"

Mina knew she was at the cutting point of age, being almost twenty and her last year to apply. If it wasn't for Serena, her dreams would of went unfulfilled. She didn't want to tell Malachite that she didn't believe in herself or her talent, so she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Too much money."

"I mean to say I was saving up for Juilliard by teaching Zumba. Without this scholarship I would never of had the money to attend," Mina corrected herself.

"Listen, there are a couple dance competitions coming up and unfortunately they require couple dancers. I am wondering if you would consider working with a partner, like me," Malachite stammered and for a moment Mina could have sworn she saw a blush stain his cheeks.

Smiling Mina nodded her head, "that sounds great, here is my number."

Mina fished out one of her Zumba cards and handed it over to him, "and maybe you can come to one of my Zumba classes."

Malachite nodded and tucked the card away into his side pocket on his suit. "Good to see you again." He bowed deeply before turning away.

Finally, Mina had conquered her fear and now she was following her dream; going to the best school in the world and soon she will be a professional dancer. With a renew sense of self confidence Mina left the auditorium with her head held high and her heart skipping a beat, in hopes that if she and Malachite become dance partners that it might shift to something more, something romantic. She shook the thought out of her head, right now all she wanted to do was go home and soak in a nice hot tub. Her day was done, and she had won the fiercest battle of her life.

The End


End file.
